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Save Canada Post

By:

Pam Johnson

July 6, 2014

The plan to end door-to-door postal delivery has been massively unpopular from the moment it was announced by Canada Post in December 2013. Sixty per cent of people across Canada recently surveyed are opposed to the plan.

The notion that door-to-door mail is somehow obsolete and inefficient, as has been suggested by Canada Post, is thoroughly discredited by new research suggesting that the end of this service will have a huge impact on seniors, anyone with mobility issues and people with disabilities. The plan also calls for cutting 8,000 jobs.

“The public outcry began the moment these cuts were announced by Canada Post and approved by the Conservatives,' said Denis Lemelin, National President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). ''Lawn signs are going up all across the country. People are organizing. Municipalities are taking action.'

The Save Canada Post campaign launched by CUPW has initiated actions in communities large and small across Canada and Quebec. To date, seventy municipalities have passed resolutions in support of postal workers and continuing door-to-door delivery, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Medicine Hat, Hamilton and Oakville.

Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) locals have organized door-to-door canvassing in London, Ontario and Charlottetown. The Peterborough local organized a “I’m walking with my letter carrier” event. In Edmonton and Toronto, CUPW participated in Pride parades. Town halls meetings hosted by CUPW and NDP MPs have been held Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Sherboorke and other cities.

A united campaign across Canada with the same sort of labour solidarity that defeated Hudak could turn the tide on this campaign, push back on the Harper austerity agenda and build the confidence and capacity of the labour movement.